Investment Officer

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its main policy rate by 50 basis points, the largest increase since 2000. The steep hike reflects the current state of the US economy, where inflation surged to 8.5 percent in March with unemployment relatively low at 3.6 percent.

In Luxembourg, international law firm Clifford Chance this week announced the promotion of two of its counsel and the appointment of nine senior associates, while industry group Alfi has hired a new head of communications from PWC Luxembourg.

Led by a steep drop in bond investments, European Ucits investment funds saw net outflows rise more than five-fold in February when compared to a month earlier due to worries over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and over rising inflation, according to the European Fund and Asset Management Association, Efama.

Funds defined as Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities, or Ucits, recorded net outflows of 43 billion euro in February, compared to net outflows of EUR 8 billion in January 2022. 

The European Union’s top financial supervisory bodies have told the European Commission to move towards a clearer and more effective framework for informing retail clients about costs and potential risks their run with investments, and told it to better integrate sustainability objectives into requirements for informing consumers.

It was one of the worst stock market quarters in a long time, but Warren Buffett did not stare like a rabbit in the headlights. He seized the correction to buy more than 41 billion dollars worth of promising and punished shares. Result: his investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway outperformed the S&P 500. 

Although it noted a “sharp slowdown” since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Europe’s biggest asset manager Amundi saw its assets under management top 2,000 billion euro during the first quarter, buoyed by the integration of Lyxor and persistent inflows from retail clients.

Amundi, part of the Paris-based Credit Agricole group, said on Friday that its assets under management rose 15 percent to 2,021 billion euro in the first quarter when compared to the same period a year earlier.

Antwerp-based asset manager Merit Capital will lose its Belgian brokerage licence, according to a judgement by Belgium’s Council of State published on 26 April. Merit Capital has been struggling for years with its governance model and profitability. Having its license revoked casts a cloud over its arrangement with Frankfurt-based Renell Bank, which announced in October it had agreed to acquire Merit subject to conditions.

A relatively new asset owner-led platform providing information needed to decide on sustainable development investments is gaining global traction now that the world’s biggest asset management firm Blackrock has decided to join as a subscriber.

Fundrock, one of Europe’s largest third-party management companies with a significant presence in Luxembourg, on Monday said it has been appointed by Royal London Asset Management Funds plc, also known as RLAM, to provide management and distribution services for its Irish fund range.

Hedge funds with a macro or multi-strategy focus were among the best performing funds in the first quarter, shielding investors from geopolitical turmoil, high inflation numbers and shifting monetary policies, according to Preqin, a privately-held London-based investment data company that provides financial data and information on the alternative assets market.

The firm said that, in a historical context, first quarter performance was “certainly disappointing but hedge funds managed to guard investors against major pullbacks.”